HERSHEY - The frustration, which had been simmering much of the night, hit its peak late in the fourth quarter.

As yet another whistle went against the Muhlenberg Muhls, a voice from the bench shouted in the most exasperated of tones, "It's 11-0. They don't have a foul."

The next trip down the floor Lampeter-Strasburg was called for its first infraction. The Muhlenberg bench and the fans immediately erupted into a disingenuous round of applause.

Unfortunately, the Muhlenberg faithful didn't have many positives to cheer about Wednesday night in a 53-35 loss to the Pioneers in the District 3-AAA semifinals at the Giant Center.

In case you're wondering, Muhlenberg committed 13 fouls the Lampeter-Strasburg's one in the second half. While that total is eye-popping, it wasn't the difference.

The Muhls' surprisingly poor execution mixed with the Pioneers' athleticism decided this one.

"The fouls aren't an excuse for losing," said Muhlenberg coach Reggie Weiss. "We caused our own demise against a very good basketball team. The officiating had nothing to do with us losing the game, even though the officiating simply was poor."

The Muhls (23-2) got off to an auspicious start, with Michele Schrift and Liz Hornberger nailing jumpers for a 4-0 lead 58 seconds in. The positives pretty much ended there.

Danielle Rittenhouse (17 points) and Lisa Boyer (15) each scored six points as the Pioneers rattled off a 16-4 run over the final 5:10 to take an 18-9 lead after a quarter. Lampeter-Strasburg led 28-17 at the half.

Entering the game the Muhls were allowing an average of just 23 points in two district games. They were coming off a quarterfinal win over Daniel Boone in which they had just eight turnovers; they had 11 in the first half Wednesday.

Muhlenberg leading scorer Amanda Mikatavage had just one point and took four shots in the first half. The Muhls shot 1-of-9 from the foul line in the first half.

"Everything just seemed to mushroom on us," Weiss said. "We got out of sync. I don't understand how we can break a press consistently one time and be in all the right positions, and the next time we can't do it.

"We worked on it for two straight days. I don't know if we got flustered because of the moment. I don't know if it was because of the spacious Giant Center. I don't know if it was because of the crowd. And the biggest problem was we didn't run the ball down. They got second shot after second shot."

Things didn't get any better in the third quarter. The Muhls shot just 3-of-16 from the field. The Pioneers (25-2) all but put the game away with an 8-2 run to start the quarter for a 36-19 lead.

It was the first time this season the Muhls allowed 50 points. In fact, it was just the second time in 12 games they allowed 40 or more.

They will look to rebound in a third-place game against Eastern York Friday at a site and time to be determined. The Muhls already have earned a trip to the PIAA Tournament.

"I just don't understand why we weren't able to run the ball down tonight," Weiss said. "First it's one issue and then another issue comes up. Maybe we were intimidated by the moment. It just wasn't one of our better outings."